Onsen Scenario
by psychedelic aya
Summary: Oneshot. AyumuxHiyono, AyumuxHiyonoxHizumi. Ayumu thinks he's going crazy hearing her voice in his head. She's not here, he says, its impossible. This is the men's side of the springs. But oh how wrong he was.


**Authoress' Notes: **Written last May 2007, while I was on a rush of sugar and lolz. Involves AyuHiyo + Hizu, hot springs, towels (or the lack of such). Good luck, and enjoy.

Oh yes. This was also entered at the fanfiction category during the Spiral Festival 2007 contest at Spiraldestiny in Livejournal. And surprisingly, it won first place. Thanks to all who voted, I love you guys.

Crack-induced. Need I mention anything more?

**Disclaimer:** When have I ever?

---

**Onsen Scenario****  
**_By psychedelic aya_

"Narumi-san!"

Ayumu ignored the voice and its origin. Surely, it was impossible that she could be here. Hearing her voice could only be a figment of his imagination.

"Narumi-san!"

But then it sounded so clear, he thought, _so loud and noisy and annoying like she could be_; it was as if she were really here, in all her pigtailed news-reporter glory, with that first-class stupid smile on her face (and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes that he knew would only lead to the disappearance of his bentou).

"Narumi-san!"

But _no._ She couldn't be _here_. No no no, she just couldn't. Not even her prized persuading powers could defy the fate that came between them today.

"Narumi-san!"

And maybe Ayumu was slightly thankful for that. Despite of his familiarity with the older girl, he really wanted some peace and quiet for the weekend. She was just too noisy for her own good, sometimes, and he hadn't any means to escape her (he could just leave her alone, actually; but he knew he'd never do that; for she did not like being left alone, and for all that she'd done for him, he did not like leaving her alone, either).

"Narumi-san!"

But now was different. He actually found means to escape her (which didn't quite require leaving her alone by his own volition, but rather it required leaving her alone because of certain rules and the norm etiquette of morality) and he was currently using that means to his current pleasurable disposal.

"Narumi-saaan!"

Ugh, but her voice in his head was still nagging on. Ayumu groaned, hearing his imagination come up with a perfect replica of how she said his name when she was annoyed with him. She dragged out the last sound of the honorific annoyingly (and she did it on purpose!), and heavens forbid, no matter if he and she were friends, it irked him to no end.

"NA-RU-MI-SAAAN"

Ayumu couldn't take it anymore. Was he going crazy? He said he wanted some peace and quiet and yet his mind forbade him the enjoyment of such, as it made her voice echo (repeatedly and repeatedly and repeatedly) at the back of his head. ("Narumi-san," it called out, "Narumi-sanNarumi-sanNarumi-sanNarumi-saaan.")

_Crazy, crazy, crazy. _

But ah, he thought, _it must be the heat_; because this place was indeed very hot and steam was rising everywhere. _Yes,_ he decided,_ it's just the heat of this place._ It was making him imagine things. He wanted to bang his head on something hard now, but there was a great lack of anything hard in this place.

"NARUMI-SAN, LOOK AT ME—"

Was this her way of reminding (_read_: haunting) him to bring her strawberries when he got home? He remembered already, it wasn't like he was going to forget in the first place (sure he forgot _last time_ but he promised he'd remember _now_)—

"Na. Ru. Mi. Saaan."

_Ugh, dammit_.

Beside him, he could hear Hizumi snickering, and he wondered if the amber-eyed boy could also hear her annoying voice inside his head.

_Oh how the cursed share the pain(?)._

"Narumi-san—"

"Shut up, oy. I got it, I got it, I won't forget your strawberries. And I won't forget to buy the sweet milk this time."

The voice stopped, almost abruptly. Hizumi was laughing by now, but Ayumu paid him no heed. For a small (though insignificant) while, he felt victorious, being able to conquer her repeated imaginary speech of his name (as well as the underlying haunting reminder of her strawberries and sweet milk).

"Ayumu-kun," Hizumi said, trying to hide his sniggers, "Why on earth are you talking to the steam?"

Ayumu shrugged. He glanced at the other boy, passively, and waved his hand nonchalantly. "Do I need to explain myself to you?"

It looked like Hizumi wanted to laugh again, but all that came out was a smirk. "Well, no," he conceded, "But I suppose you need to explain yourself to Osage-san. She's been calling your name and you've been ignoring her."

Ayumu did not make the slightest reaction at the notion that she was here; he was convinced that his friend was merely faking. Because really, it was impossible. "She's not here, Mizushiro," he said, keeping his composure, "Don't be fooled by the voices inside your head. It's her way of haunting us about those damned strawberries of hers."

"_Damned_ strawberries? Why, Narumi-san, I never thought you'd use such vulgar language for my favourite cute fruits—"

In the midst of the barrage of her voice's scolding (though still imaginary, according to Ayumu), Hizumi gave a mysterious grin, and his eyes were full of mirth. Ayumu, seeing this from his peripheral vision, tried his best to ignore him; because _really_, Hizumi's mysterious grins were almost as annoying as her imaginary voice, and Ayumu thought he already had enough to annoy him today.

And so _damn_. Wasn't he supposed to be on a weekend _vacation_?

"Ayumu-kun," the green-haired boy said again, calling him from the side. His voice had become softer, and though it was a little muffed by the steam and the sloshes of water, but Ayumu could still hear him well enough. "Please look at Osage-san. It will save the rest of the men here further embarrassment if you just acknowledge her presence, so that she may be able to leave."

Ayumu almost refused to give in, but he saw the looks and heard the gasps of the people around them ("Whoa! Is that a highschool girl?"); it gave him a reason to believe, even if only slightly.

The other men with them looked the shortest bit of aghast.

"Narumi-saaan," her voice drawled out, as if tired of screaming his name, and had instead opted for a frustrated sigh. "I'm not an imaginary voice in your head! How mean of you!"

Ayumu finally decided to look behind him, to where he deduced her imaginary voice was coming from (although he believed it to be merely the back of his mind until late). Surely enough, there was Hiyono, in all her pigtailed news-reporter glory as he imagined; but instead of the first-class stupid smile on her face there was a reserved pout, and replacing the mischievous twinkle in her eyes was a look of doom.

"Narumi-san," she said again, for probably the umpth time in the last ten minutes. The pout gradually erased from her expression when he finally faced her, and she began to look the slightest bit pleased.

They stared at each other for a few seconds—as if captivated by the other's presence (but really, Ayumu was just tired and unbelieving and Hiyono was just frustrated and annoyed). Ayumu had to look up because she was on higher ground—she was sitting on the rock he had been leaning on, and he vaguely wondered how long had she been there, and why he had never noticed.

Despite the fact that he was completely unbelieving to Mizushiro a few moments ago (and _of course_ by now Hizumi was trying not to laugh his ass off at the sidelines), Ayumu's stoicism kicked in and he did not look the slightest surprised that Yuizaki Hiyono was now in front of him, her arms crossed in that majestic annoyed way of hers and her face flushed because of the steam (Hizumi jokingly made a side comment about how it could be flushed because of something else, but both Ayumu and Hiyono ignored him).

"You," Ayumu drawled, tired and fatigued because of his over-thinking and unbelieving, and also the slightest bit exasperated as to why she was here. And so he asked. "Why are you here?"

Hiyono pouted. "You're mean, Narumi-san. First you leave me alone without a word to go on this trip—a relaxing hot springs trip, no less—and now you're asking why I'm here with that stoic and ungrateful expression of yours! I followed you all this way! To Kyoto! I spent all my allowance on this!"

"I wasn't asking you why you followed me," Ayumu cleared up—(because really he thought it was only a matter of time before Hiyono found them and followed them, with that obsessive skill in researching of hers), "I'm asking you why are you _here_."

"Eh?"

Hizumi spoke up then, "I believe he's asking why are you here, at the men's side of the springs, Osage-san."

"Ah!" Hiyono didn't look the slightest bit remorseful, but she did seem embarrassed (which maybe was only right and appropriate. Still, she made no move to leave.) "Well—" she started, glancing at Hizumi then at Ayumu and then back and forth again, "Well—er—" she stuttered, and looked away.

"Well?" Ayumu pressed, trying not to roll his eyes. The other men in the room were starting to leave already, feeling scandalized at having a highschool girl enter and stay in the supposedly private mens-only hot spring; but there were others who opted to stay and stare, thinking Hiyono was a flirt of some sort. Whenever anyone tried to approach her, though, Hizumi glared them away.

(Ayumu was still too busy interrogating.)

"Well?"

Hiyono gulped. "Well," she tore her gaze away from both of her friends and stared at her feet, which were hanging over the rock. (If she swung them a little bit, she thought, she might be able to have her toes brush over Ayumu's hair. And it would be soft, probably, and it would tickle. He'd probably be annoyed, though, and—)

"Hiyono."

And she was surprised. Ayumu rarely said her name, but when he did, his voice always sounded so deep and so commanding and so _him_, and she really liked it. And, and, and—

Oh crap, no time to think. She had to answer.

"Well, I felt alone," she said truthfully. "And I wanted to follow you guys here because there was no one back at the city. Rio-san, Asazuki-san and Ryouko-san all went out on weekend trips, too. And—and—and—um. I was at the girl's side awhile ago, and it was so lonely 'cause I didn't come with anyone, and I was planning to surprise you outside but I heard your voice from this side and decided I couldn't wait! I found a secret opening where no one would notice me come in, and so. Mou, Narumi-san, I also wanted to make sure you didn't forget about my strawberries."

He shrugged, suddenly feeling less tired after hearing her explanation. He gave a small smile and lightly tugged on one of her dangling feet, "Oy, I said I wouldn't."

"You forgot last time!"

"Mizushiro forgot last time. You told him to tell me, and he never did."

Hizumi was giving an apologetic smile at the sidelines by now, "My bad, Osage-san."

Hiyono didn't sound convinced at either of them. "What about my sweet milk? And my takoyaki? And I heard Kyoto has this yummy kind of chocolate cake—"

Ayumu rolled his eyes and began to shift in the water, as if making a motion to Hizumi that they should get out. They began striding their legs in the direction of the hotsprings' entrance-stairway. Without looking to Hiyono, he sighed, "Is all you think about food?" She made a sound of disagreement and began ranting, but he ignored her. "And do you actually plan to make me buy all that? Use your own money."

The girl pouted again and tightened the frustrated cross of her arms. As she watched them start to walk in the water, she rambled, "I do not think of food all the time! And besides, I told you already, Narumi-san, that I spent all my allowance to buy a ticket to follow you here! It's only just compensation that you pay for everything else—that includes the food!" She smiled proudly at her little conclusion, and nodded to herself. When she looked at Ayumu and Hizumi, though, they were almost by the stairs and were preparing to go out. "Huh? Where are you going? Narumi-san, Mizushiro-kun?"

Ayumu gave one last look to her before ascending the stairs that led to the outside. "It's still early, and the market should still be open. We can kill some time there."

"Eh? So you're leaving the hotsprings?"

He gave her a look. "We can't stay here long with you sitting there, idiot." He ignored her stammering at this, and spared her the barest similarity of a smirk. "Unless of course you want us to?"

Hiyono blushed and stuck her tongue out. "N-no! Hentai, Narumi-san!"

He shrugged and ignored her, and rolled his eyes at the ever-knowing smirk of Hizumi.

At remembering Ayumu's words, though, Hiyono's eyes brightened. She also began to stand up. "So… you're going to a Kyoto marketplace? Isn't that like a festival market place?"

It was Hizumi who answered her. "Yes. And there should be fireworks tonight too, Osage-san."

The girl squealed. "Really?" And so she rushed to the entrance immediately, to the extent that she reached it before they did. She put her hands on her hips and grinned. "We'll go together, right?"

The question was so simple, but Ayumu knew it had a deep underlying meaning. "Aa," he said, and it was the perfect answer. "Together."

Hiyono smiled, and it was pretty smile; she pumped her fist in the air in her glee. "C'mon, Mizuhiro-kun, Narumi-san! Let's get dressed in our yukatas and—"

She looked at them and suddenly paused abruptly; Ayumu and Hizumi had to wonder why.

"Oy, what's the matter now?"

"Osage-san?"

And though Hiyono had an enthusiasm that was channelled by the promise of fireworks and the thoughts of festival food and the comfort of having her two best friends accompany her, the sight before her couldn't help but make her look scandalized and scream.

"NARUMI-SAN!"

The shouting of his name began again, and Ayumu groaned. (He thinks he knows the reason time around, though.)

Hizumi began laughing. He thanked whichever gods that worked upon them today and made Ayumu step out of the hot spring first.

"PUT A TOWEL ON!"

---

**Authoress' Notes:** And yes, we all know we want to be in Hiyono's place. We can dream, can't we?

Smile, someone up there loves you. ;D


End file.
